Twinkage guide

**MigIdiot** · 04-11-2008

In the wild and wooly world of WoW PvP, there's one interesting subcategory that deserves mention -- the twinks. Defined as characters who are disproportionately powerful for their level, twinks are either loved or hated. On one hand, if you have a Level 70 character (or a few max-level friends), it's rather easy to 'twink up' another toon. On the other hand, many players who are leveling for the first time may find their Battlegrounds experience diminish when they encounter (and consequently have their faces smashed in by) ridiculously-geared and enchanted opponents on the field. In fact, twinks are a subculture of their own, with more than a few guilds set up exclusively for twink PvP.

Love them or hate them, twinks are here to stay. In fact, in response to a question at last year's Blizzcon, Blizzard responded that they were actually considering Arenas for characters Levels 19 and 29 (the common twink level limits). The problem, they said, was designing rewards for them and if there was sufficient player demand. Designing rewards for twinks seems to be a hyperbolic response considering that it's likely that the only characters that will excel in those low levels are already well-geared. That said, there is a small subculture of players who enjoy PvP at low levels to the point of wanting an experience toggle to keep their toons at a comfortably low level.

The reasons why people twink up toons varies, although most of these players have one or more Level 70 toons and want to have a little fun being overpowered in the Battlegrounds. Personally, I enjoy PvP at max level because it affords me the greatest challenge and gives me the most skills to work with. At lower levels, all classes have a limited number of skills and -- here's the important part -- not all classes will be good to PvP with because not all classes have access to key PvP skills yet. However, I'm sure a lot of people find twink PvP a lot of fun, even if they eventually plan to level past the twink stage. For purposes of this article, we'll take a look at Level 29 twinkage... it's not too low to have extremely limited skills, yet not too high so as to have too much of a skill discrepancy between classes.

Class considerations
First of all, if you're aiming to create a twink, you should be aware that not all classes were created equal. Although Blizzard constanly tries to balance the classes, they don't aim to do so at every level. For the most part, all classes are (supposed to be) balanced at max level. Tailor the class you choose to your playing style -- if you enjoy melee, you can consider playing a Druid, Paladin, Shaman, Rogue, or Warrior. Be aware, however, that Warriors in PvP are most powerful when they finally get Intercept and/or Mortal Strike, neither of which are available at Level 29. Paladins also have no melee strikes whatsoever, except Crusader Strike which can be obtained at Level 50. Shamans do not get the dreaded Windfury until the next level, and Stormstrike can only be obtained at Level 40. Arguably, the best choice for a Level 29 twink melee class is a Rogue, who has almost all the necessary the groundwork for PvP available at Level 29: Stealth, a stun, and a plethora of strikes. Feral Druids also have a few of the same advantages but don't have the same twink options as far as weapons go and, as I'll illustrate later, equipment goes a long way towards twinking.

On the ranged or caster side, there is the Druid and Shaman (again), Hunter, Priest, Mage, and Warlock. It is important to note that there are no Level 29 Shadow Priest twinks simply because their defining spell, Shadowform, can only be obtained at Level 40. Certainly you can perform well with Mind Blasts and Mind Flay, but for the most part, the Shadow tree doesn't peak until you get Shadowform. Mages have a good selection at Level 29 because they have the immobilizing Frost Nova, the bond-breaking Blink, and some instant as well as long-cast direct damage spells. Warlocks have the all-important Fear available since Level 8, and can spec towards Shadowburn to complement their Damage-over-Time spells. Of course, they also have a few pets to choose from, and the Succubus or Imp are both good choices for Level 29 PvP. Shamans already have access to Frost Shock, Earthbind Totem, and Lightning Bolt, the foundations of a kiting strategy. Druids have the annoyingly spammable Moonfire, as well as Entangling Roots. With limited mobility options at Level 29, that combo is sometimes enough to finish off non-twinks. Finally, there's the Hunter, which is a very good choice for twinkage because her damage scales immensely with a good weapon. She can also use Freezing Trap and Frost Trap, spec for Aimed Shot, and has a pet. Overall a highly twinkable class.

Get geared
There is no plate. No classes have high mitigation through armor because most classes will be wearing leather or something squishier. Although Paladins and Warriors wear mail, they won't have their powerful spells available to them until much later in the game, making them less fearsome as twinks. There is also no resilience, so dealing as much damage as possible through crits and burst is essential since mitigation options at low levels is very limited. Get the best gear available to your class, you can go through item databases such as wowhead to find the perfect gear, but generally the best items are available through instances.

Rings
In fact, perhaps the greatest and most desirable of all twink gear can be found in Scarlet Monastery, the epic ring Deadman's Hand. Requiring Level 29 and loaded with Stamina, the most important attribute for twink PvP, the ring seems to be Blizzard's affirmation of the Level 29 twink bracket. Two Stamina-heavy rings can complement this -- Nogg's Gold Ring for the Horde and Talvash's Gold Ring for the Alliance, quest rewards obtained through a venture into Gnomeregan, where you can also get lucky with a Charged Gear from Mekgineer Thermaplugg. A comparable, easier-to-get ring would be the quest reward Jaina's Signet Ring, although the Strength is useless for casters and ranged classes. It is also the end reward of a long Alliance-only quest chain available at Level 28, so twinks must be wary of leveling when trying to obtain it. Rings are few and far between at lower levels and so command a high price on the secondary market. If you're twinking, don't hesitate to purchase good Stamina-laden rings such as the Basalt or Tundra Rings from the Auction House.

Trinkets
More than rings, trinket slots fill up slower than any other slot in your equipment list. In order to optimize twinkage, you have to fill both slots with a trinket. You can start by PvPing early and accumulating enough Honor points for the Insignias of the Horde or Alliance, or the trinkets from Arathi Basin or Warsong Gulch. Another, highly recommended method is to take up Engineering, which gives the earliest trinket items in the game. At level 20, characters can take up Expert Engineering, opening up the options to use wonderful trinkets such as the Gnomish Net-o-matic Projector or Gnomish Shrink Ray. Don't hesitate to swap them out for other trinkets between cooldowns.

Armor
There are many options for armor, although cloth armor at low levels generally lack the necessary Stamina so important to twink PvP. Don't hesitate to use (+Stamina and +Intellect) greens found at the Auction House. With some luck, you might find the Bind-on-Equip Beguiler Robes for a reasonable price or you could use a high level toon to farm Scarlet Monastery in the hopes of a drop. Black Velvet Robes are a world drop that have a good mix of Stamina and Intellect -- plus, it looks really cool. Hotshot Pilot's Gloves are a zone drop from Gnomeregan, but it might be too much torture for your main to farm it. Warsong Sash is easily obtained from a quest in Ashenvale, available at Level 22. The idea is to go for Stamina and Intellect, avoiding frill bonuses such as Spirit or even +spell damage.

Leather wearers gets the best selection for twink PvP, bar none. This is why Hunters and Rogues are excellent class choices for twinkage. From the cool-looking Defias Leather set farmable from the Deadmines to the disco diva-style Embrace of the Viper -- improved greatly in Patch 2.3 -- farmable from the Wailing Caverns, there's no shortage of leather gear with Stamina and the appropriate statistic. Leatherworking-crafted items such as Barbaric Bracers, Deviate Scale Belt, and Toughened Leather Gloves are staples for leather-clad twinks. Don't get blinded by blues, though. Even though the Razorfen Kraul zone drop Mantle of Thieves is very sweet (not to mention the name is cool as heck), don't hesitate to purchase Cutthroat's Mantle from the AH, specially if it has the suffix. Again, the idea is to look for loads of Stamina and a secondary stat such as Agility or Strength (e.g. - for Enhancement Shamans). The Gnomeregan quest reward Triprunner Dungarees are so loaded with Agility that it will serve players well even past the twink brackets.

Mail armor provides a decent selection at Level 29, although leather is still the best. The only rare crafted item for mail wearers is the Shining Silver Breastplate, while the uncommon items glaringly lack decent Stamina. Fortunately, Warriors get the quest to obtain either the Brutal Hauberk (Horde) or the Fire Hardened Hauberk (Alliance) which have loads of Stamina. One exception to the quest for the Stamina is the Tusken Helm from Razorfen Kraul. Even though it has no Stamina, there are loads of Strength and Agility, making it the best DPS twink helmet for Paladins or Warriors. The BoE Frostreaver Crown is a good choice for Stamina gear, however, but is probably harder to get as it is a world drop.

Weapon
This is where Rogues and Hunters shine best. By equipping the best possible weapons, Rogues and Hunters (and of course Warriors, Shamans and Paladins) get the most out of their attacks. Because +spell damage on weapons isn't as common for weapons at this bracket, melee and ranged classes benefit more from weapons. And there's a variety to choose from. The best possible ranged weapon for a Level 29 twink comes from our good friend Hemet Nesingwary, Jr. and his quest in Stranglethorn Vale. Although nerfed from a top-end of 102 damage, the Master Hunter's Rifle is still the best and slowest ranged weapon in the game for Level 29 Hunters. Its bow equivalent, the Master Hunter's Bow is identical in every way. With these weapons buffed with a +7 damage scope, Hunters can deal a world of hurt in the Battlegrounds opening with a devastating Aimed Shot. Hunters should probably also go for the almost-always-drops-and-is-disenchanted Armor Piercer from Razorfen Kraul.

Rogues can visit the lonely Scarlet Monastery Graveyard in an attempt to farm Torturing Poker from Interrogator Vishas (with high level help, of course). There's no shortage of excellent daggers for Rogues, as there's also the Toxic Revenger from Gnomeregan, or the off-hand friendly Vendetta from Razorfen Kraul. Like swords? There's the Zealot Blade, a world drop that is probably the best main hand weapon thanks to its top-end damage. Ignore the Intellect and Spirit. If it drops for you in a PUG, roll Need. Level 29 twink Rogues will be devastating using this weapon for instant attacks. PvP, naturally, also gives a good selection of daggers and swords, such as the Legionnaire's Sword or the Scout's Blade.

Warriors and Paladins should look at getting the appropriately-named Corpsemaker from Razorfen Kraul. With a top-end of 132, it's considerably even better than the higher DPS Thermaplugg's Left Arm from Gnomeregan. With only a handful of weapons a top-end of over 100, both weapons are highly desirable as are the Scarlet Monastery BoE drop Cobalt Crusher or the world drop BoE Burning War Axe. Simply put, caster classes don't scale as well at lower levels with the weapons available, so take this into consideration when making a twink.

In many occasions, twinks exist purely to PvP, dominating lower-bracket Battlegrounds with their über-gear. In fact, there is no shortage of twink complaint threads on the World of Warcraft forums. Whatever one might feel about twinks, it's an ongoing phenomenon that shows no signs of letting up. I'm not a big fan of twinkage myself, but it's such a distinct subset of the PvP crowd that I feel compelled to write about it. Twice. Oh, and for the record, I am quite aware that 'twink' is a homosexual slang term. I prefer to think of the Hostess snack, though.

So here we go, the second part of our look at twink PvP. we justed discussed an overview of the potential items that twinks can obtain... I didn't make a comprehensive list since that's a considerable task. I did, however, give some pointers in the right direction. Considering that Resilience does not exist in lower level PvP, the key stat is Stamina, so get gear with loads of it. There are also ways to improve on gear, particularly using permanent item enchants. The most notorious of these is probably the Nethercleft Leg Armor, which requires Level 60 to apply, but has no item restriction. It might cost a bit of gold because it requires Primal Nether to craft, but the +40 Stamina is well worth it for twinks. Patch 2.4 also promises removing binding on nethers, which may or may not lower prices. For casters, the tailoring equivalents of Golden and Runic Spellthreads are also good investments, despite the 20 stamina hit.

For the head, an enchantment from the old world is still king. The Lesser Arcanum of Constitution is a reward from the Libram of Constitution quest in Burning Steppes. Aside from some items, it also costs 30g, which is a fair price for most twinks for a 100 health increase. It's the best head enchant for twink PvP. That is, until Patch 2.4, which previews the first and only PvP-specific head enchant obtainable upon reaching exalted reputation with the Shattered Sun Offensive, appropriately named Glyph of the Gladiator. The caveat with these head enchants is the inability to apply them on items bound to one of your characters, necessitating the assistance (or services) of another player.

For the chest, there's +100 to health... unfortunately, the +150 to health requires a Level 35 or higher item (actually, requires an item that requires a Level 35 character). Optionally, there's the +4 to all stats which benefits some classes more than others. Then there's Enchant Bracer - Superior Stamina which gives 90 health to bracers, and uses an affordable 15 Illusion Dust while 10 Dream Dust is needed for Enchant Boots - Greater Stamina. There's no proper twink PvP enchant for shoulder slot items (unless you can farm Sapphiron for the Fortitude of the Scourge, which is highly unlikely), so go wild with the Aldor or Scryer enchants if you want. Weapon enchants are a toss-up, and this is where twinks like to play around with their special effects, using the popular Crusader or dual-wielding Fire and Frost. Have fun.

Now, when it comes down to actual PvP with your twink, it naturally takes more than just pimped out gear. As I mentioned last week, some classes lend themselves better to twinkage than others, particularly weapon-based classes or classes whose damage scales with their weapon. Another consideration when choosing a twink class is movement. As I've tried to explain in the past, movement is key to PvP and the classes that have unrestricted movement have a distinct advantage. Particularly in the Level 29 twink bracket, enhanced movement speed is even more crucial because no classes have mounts. On a good note, most movement-related skills are learned at Level 20, such as Blink, Ghost Wolf, or Aspect of the Cheetah. This means classes like Mages, Shamans, and Hunters have a distinct advantage in Battlegrounds where the objective involves a lot of movement -- taking the flag, moving to the Farm or Blacksmith, etc. Druids don't get Travel Form until Level 30, so their reign as kings of mobility doesn't quite begin in the lower twink brackets.

Rogues are perfect twink candidates because pretty much every tool but Cloak of Shadows, Blind, and the 41-point Subtlety talent Cheat Death are available to them at such low levels, making Rogue twink PvP very similar to high level Rogue PvP. At lower levels, there are few options for all classes to break free from a stun or incapacitate effect, making them arguably more powerful. With the right enchanted weapon, a Level 29 Rogue can instagib lower- or even same-level opponents with an Ambush crit. If that doesn't work the first time, Vanish and do it again. Here's a tip everyone probably already knows, but I'll say it anyway -- go for the seated clothie having a drink. Heck, anyone seated. An attack on a seated target automatically crits.

Hunters also have great tools to work with at Level 29, least of which are their pets. Although there are a number of crowd control skills available to opponents at this bracket such as a Druid's Hibernate or another Hunter's Scare Beast, another hitter always helps. Most kiting abilities are also available at Level 29, from Concussive Shot to Wing Clip to Frost Trap, so Hunters who are able to cycle through their Arcane Shots and stings while keeping opponents at bay should be in pretty good shape. Aimed Shot can also be taken as a talent at Level 20, and with the right weapon, the results can be pretty explosive.

Shamans don't peak in twinkage until they get Windfury at the next level, unfortunately, so they're not such a hot option in the Level 29 bracket, which seems to be the most popular one. Chain Lightning also kicks in at Level 32, so Shamans are probably the most fun and at their scariest (twink-wise) in the Level 39 bracket. Being a hybrid class, Shamans don't get the most out of their specs until deep into the trees, so the most a Level 29 twink Shaman can bring into the fray is the soon-to-be-improved-in-Patch-2.4 Ghost Wolf, which will give mobility options for both kiting and counter-kiting. Otherwise, one option is to go healing and stack +healing enchants alongside Stamina. Even then, there's no Chain Heal or Nature's Swiftness, so Shamans in the Level 29 bracket are mediocre at best. My advice would be to go and quest for another ten levels.

Speaking of mediocre, Priests also underperform in Level 29 twink PvP unless they go for healing. The problem with casters at lower levels is the dearth of +damage and healing items. Instead, there are loads of items with Intellect and... gasp... Spirit. Going Shadow at Level 29 is gimped because there's no access to Shadowform, Vampiric Touch, or Vampiric Embrace. While Priests may be the toughest class to kill and can deal a world of hurt at 70, they simply don't pack the same punch at lower levels.

The same penalties that apply to a Shaman apply to Druids or Paladins in the Level 29 twink bracket. Being hybrid classes, they don't get their best abilities until deep into the tree. At best, Druids in this bracket will be rooting and spamming Moonfire, hoping Starfire procs Celestial Focus so they can wash, rinse, and repeat. Druids wishing to go Feral for twinkage should probably wait til the next bracket so Travel Form becomes available. Paladins, whom we have criticized as a glorified auto-attack class, has no melee options at the Level 29 bracket, making Seal of Casino the only viable PvP DPS option. Because fights aren't prolonged by Resilience, burst is more important at lower levels. Seal of Command provides this, but it's mostly luck-based. Best advice? Gear up. Get to 70. Or heal.

Warlocks have only one Fear spell at the Level 29 bracket and their Damage-over-Time spells don't get the benefit of enough +spell damage because of the way lower level gear is itemized. On the other hand, they do have a pet -- albeit an irritable imp or a flirty, hoofed and tailed harlot (blueberries aren't used in PvP, sadly) -- and enough survivability that they're surprisingly viable at these levels. They simply won't deal as much burst damage as Rogues or Hunters, but speccing to Destruction for Shadowburn gives twink Warlocks a bit of flexibility.

Mages are neither here nor there at low levels, and it's not because of Blink, either. Again, the lack of +spell damage in items gimps their ability to deal burst damage, and their survivability is suspect because there's just not enough mitigation available at low levels, although Frost Nova comes in handy in those tight situations. Fire or Frost Mages can opt to stack uncommon (green) +Fire or +Frost damage gear at the expense of Stamina in order to deal massive amounts of burst, but in those cases, a Rogue doesn't even have to crit with an Ambush to send the Mage to an early appointment with the Spirit Healer.

Lastly, there are Warriors, who will not have gotten their terrifying Mortal Strike yet. At the Level 29 bracket, Warriors don't have the same options as Rogues, although it is at these lower levels where Retaliation -- you know, the one with the swirly sword graphics around the Warrior -- will be used the most. At higher levels, many Warriors opt to use Recklessness instead (both share the same cooldown, along with Shield Wall). That said, being a heavily gear-dependent class, with the best gear available -- particularly good, enchanted weapons -- Warriors can hold their own rather well. The various anti-melee abilities available early such as Overpower, Disarm, or even Revenge come in extremely handy in many encounters.

Whatever class you choose to play in twink PvP, be aware that things change drastically as levels progress. While Rogues and Hunters are arguably the best choices for twinkage, things even out much more in endgame PvP. Higher level PvP, particularly at 70, opens up different play styles and expands the gameplay horizon. In my opinion, the game becomes more challenging and fun. Admittedly, there's a particular charm about dominating lower level brackets owing to good gear -- and frankly, that's what twinkage is all about, gear -- there's nothing more satisfying than PvP where opponents have access to all the abilities available. Level 70 PvP is where it's most balanced (and it's not a perfect balance just yet!) and ultimately, most rewarding.